Freedom is
by DatGlowstickThoe
Summary: SPOILERS FOR WHAT IS FREEDOM After bringing his mother's death, Loki brings his brother on a journey off of the Bifrost and onto Midgard. There Loki will encounter Midgardian Music, Tumbleweeds, and many other things that will change his life. The most important thing he finds there is that Freedom is... [Sequel to What is Freedom]
1. Chapter 1

**_~Author's Note~_**

_"Ello, dear readers. I'm baaaaack! Miss me? Or did you just miss Loki and Thor? Probably the latter. Anyways, this is just a lil note to explain things about this fanfic. It's the sequal to What is Freedom. PLEASE read it first, but I won't force you (Though you'll be confused). Here are the basics about things that are different or things you need to know:_

_-Every or almost every chapter will begin with an intro courtacy of the Thunder God himself, Thor. It'll be about a paragraph, and will me Itallisized (Spellcheck please xD)_

_-This takes place where WiF left off_

_-It's a bit more... lighthearted than WiF. Yes, it will have angst, obviously, because of... *tries to not spoil for those who haven't read WiF* Loki's actions involving a certain Asgardian and something with... ice O.o *ahem*_

_-If there's something randomly itallisized (I should just google how to spell it) In the middle of the chapter, it's song lyrics. Just saying. Spoiler: iPods are involved in this story._

_-At the end of the chapter, it'll end with Freedom is _ (fill in the blank). That word will most likely be an emotion Loki felt, something that happened, etc. Hence the title. It only makes sence that, to me, since the last fic was spent wondering what freedom is, that in this, Loki finally finds out what freedom is and what it entails._

_I think that's it.. so... Review Favorite Follow Share, TTFN,_

_~DatGlowstickThoe_


	2. Chapter 2

**_~AN~_**

_AND NOW FOR THE FIC YOU"VE (probably not) BEEN WAITING FOR: FREEDOM IS!_

_Yes, for all yall that read What is Freedom and have been anxiously awaiting the next fanfic, (Thanks for the support, mum) Here it finally is! After this I have 3 more chapters pre-written, and then I have to write more. So updates will be spread out a bit. Sorry, Glowsticks, Queen Sticky's in a play and has no time for anything any more! BUT I DO LOVE YOU._

_And here comes the phrase I've been dying to say for a while now..._

_RFFS TTFN_

_~DatGlowstickThoe_

* * *

><p><em>"We don't."<em>

_I knew Loki was terrified. He had fallen from the Bifrost before, and it had not resulted well. What was it that made him decide to do this? Why was he so brave to risk falling into the hands of Thanos again? Maybe it was because this time he was not alone. I would never let him be alone again. I couldn't. As his brother, I had to be there for him, whether he wanted me to be or not. That is why I allowed him to pull me off the Bifrost. So that no matter what happened, no matter what we faced, he would not be alone. Never alone._

Darkness. A darkness I was aware of, but not a darkness that I feared. I knew how to make it leave. All I had to do was open my eyes...

Light flooded my vision. Everything was blurred together, so I blinked a few times to make my vision focus. It was a few seconds before I saw anyhting, but I did not see much. A blue sky, some sand... hardly anything. Where were I? I turned my aching head to the other side, and something- someone- else came into vision, lying a few feet away on the ground.

"Thor..?" I mumbled, wondering if he was consious or not. I heard a light moan, and knew that, if he was not already consious, he was begining to wake up. Good. The sooner we both were able to process thoughts, the sonner we could figure out where in the nine realms we were.

I could tell by the surroundings that we were not on Thanos' realm. I was greatful for that. Unbelieveably greatful. It would be one thing to be tortured again, but an entirely worse scenario to see Thor tortured aswell...

"Are you okay?" I asked, my head pounding with each syllable.

"I think so..." came Thor's reply. "What about you?"

"Same... Does your head hurt as much as mine does?" I asked.

"Probably," he replied simply.

We lay there under the intirely too bright sun for Valhalla knows how long. Normally I hated the silence, but what i wouldn't have given for some silence then. The sound of my heart pounding in my head was driving me insane. We must have been lying there for hours before we could stand without getting dizzy or hurting too much and having to sit down again. Once we had been able to stand, we decided that we should look around for someone. Thor said that this place looked familiar, but I argued that he'd been to every realm out there (aside from Thano's, thank Valhalla).

It was a while before we came to a road. Finally, we were getting somewhere. Thor hadn't bothered to look before crossing the road, so by the time I had yelled for him to move, the van had already hit him.

Freedom is Confusion.


	3. Chapter 3

_**~AN~**_

_I'm too lazy to write a good Author's Note, and besides I'm about to start play rehersal in like 8minutes soooooo yeah_

_RFFSTTFN_

_~DatGlowstickThoe_

* * *

><p><em>Every man in the Nine Realms can agree that women are dangerous. I don't think any of them have been hit by thier girlfriend's van three times. Nevertheless, I was glad to see her. She could give Loki and I a place to stay while we worked things out. Hopefully we would be able to find our own place to stay, but that would take some time. The thing was, having my Loki and Jane under the same roof would be a problem... Hopefully he would stay out of the way and not cause any mischief. But something struck me when we arrived. Loki seemed to have forgotten about his grief and was acting more like himself. Whether it was the fall, or whether he'd just accepted it, I was glad to see him be himself again.<em>

I rushed over to Thor, kneeling my his side. He seemed to be okay, other than a bruise or two, which might have been there anyways.

Two ladies got out of the van and rushed toward us. The younger of the two said something along the lines of, "Great job, Jane! Maybe you found a new boyfriend!"

The other, Jane, responded with, "Shut up!" Jane.. As in Thor's Jane?

Upon Thor's sitting up, and the ladies seeing him, the younger looking one said, "Oh, nope. Just the ex!"

Jane gasped. "Thor?!" she asked.

"We've got to stop meeting this way.." Thor mumbled, Looking up at her.

I helped him up, and it seemed like no harm was done.

Thor and Jane kissed, and Jane's little friend let out an, "AWWWHHH! I love reunions!" I simply rolled my eyes.

It was a while before Jane's friend noticed me and asked, "Wait, who's this guy?"

Thor looked to me. "Darcy (So she has a name!), this is my brother, Loki."

"Loki?" Jane asked, "As in 'New York'?!" When Thor nodded, Jane turned to me and struck me across the face.

I turned back to her. "I suppose I deserved that," I admitted, then fixing my hair, which had fallen out of place and into my face.

"Yeah, you did," Jane spat, then turning back to Thor. "Why is he here? Did you bring him? Why would you-"

"It is a long story, Lady Jane," Thor interrupted. "And I shall tell it to you later."

Suddenly, Darcy interrupted to ask Thor an irrelevant question. "Is it wrong that I find your brother hot?"

Instead of letting Thor answer, I interjected, "Not wrong at all." I smirked.

"Yeah," Jane said, a bit miffed. "Really wrong. You do realize this guy tried to take over Earth, and killed a bunch of people in the process, right?"

"Now, now, Jane," I said, "Can we not let the past be the past?"

Before she would reply, Thor jumped in, saying, "I think that's a great idea."

I could tell that Jane was more that irritated at my presence, and thus I continued to smirk on. I had missed this feeling so...

"Jane, my brother and I will be staying on your realm for... quite a while. May I ask that we stay with you for a few days?" Thor asked.

Jane sighed. "Yeah, I have a guest room you can use..." Then she glared at me. "As long as he doesn't screw anything up or kill anyone."

"You have my word," I said, holding my hands up in defense.

"Mhmm... Alright. Get in the van," she instructed. She turned and got back inside of the van, Darcy getting in on the passenger's side. Thor and I climbed into the back, and then we were off.

~Sidenote~ *creepyface* Get in the van ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ~

In the front of this van were a bunch of buttons and nobs and such. Darcy played with a few of these, and music began blasting from nowhere. I was startled, but did not let it show. What kind of music was this anyways? It was nothing like what we had on Asgard. Not even close. It was loud, and the words to some of these songs made no sense. However, after a while, I got used to it.

When we arrived at Jane's home and got out of the van, she lead us inside. Once the little tour of the house was over, she dropped us off at the guest room. I stood, leaning against the wall, just thinking for the time being.

"So, what're you going to tell your little girlfriend?" I asked. "About why we're here, I mean."

"The truth," he said. "Why?"

"Because if you tell her what I did, and the fact that we're pretty much fugitives, she might be a bit less than thrilled to have us here, if she wasn't already," I pointed out.

He sighed. "Well, then, I'll just tell the partial truth."

I smirked. "I'm rubbing off on you, aren't I? I'm so proud..."

Freedom is Hospitality.


	4. Chapter 4

_**~AN~**_

_GUESS WHO'S BACK! BACK AGAIN!_

_Yeah, I finally got to writing and did this chappie. Though, I have very valid reasons why it took so long to get this one short filler chapter done: I wrote two other REALLY LONG chapters, and realized, I didn't want the story to go in that direction. So, yes, I apologize._

_Also, in the time between these chapters, i became a Sherlockian, so I'll be posting those fics soon. Yay._

_I've missed yall. Really I have. Did you miss me? ... crap I quoted Moriarty. #NOTSORRY But at long last, I can finally do this again:_

_RFFS TTFN_

_~DatGlowstickThoe_

* * *

><p><em>It was almost scaring me now, how calm and collected Loki was. After all these centuries, I should have been able to tell when he was actually calm, and when his calmness what a ruse. Now I wasn't sure, partially because I didn't want his calmness to be real. Sure, I didn't want him to be in pain, but it was worse to think that my brother might be so heartless to let mother go so soon. It was scaring me because I knew that he very well could be that heartless after all he's gone through. It scared me because it could be the first sign of losing Loki to the Darkness again.<em>  
>_<p>

Thor and I sat in our room for a while, the silence filling the air. This time, I didn't try to stop it. I did, however, manage to keep my mind from wandering into the darkness. I focused on now. Not what had already happened. What was happening now and what was going to happen. Thor and I would eventually have to find a place to live in this little realm.

I knew I couldn't use magic to help us this time. They'd track my magic. No conjuring, no trickery. We'd have to work things out like every other mortal in this realm. As far as I was concerned, we /were/ mortal. I'd proven that our lives could be taken in an instant if we-

No. I stopped myself. I couldn't let my mind go off like that. Not while my staying stable was so important to our survival on this realm. If I slipped up, I could fall into a black pit, pulling me deeper and deeper in, and I would never be able to get out. The where would we be?

I had to stay focused on the task at hand, no matter how much I felt the need to slip into the darkness.

How hard it was for me to feign apathy when Thor asked if I was 'okay'. I knew exactly why he was asking.

"I'm fine, Thor," I replied simply.

"Are you sure you're fine?" he asked. He was persistent. I admired it most days. Not today.

"Why would I lie over something so... Trivial?" He and I both knew why.

"Considering what just happened..."

"Thor, It's done, I'm over it!" I said, trying to keep my patience with him. "There's nothing I can do to change it, so why brood on it?"

"Loki, I know you don't mean this. Why are you acting like this?" he asked. "I know you cared for her."

"I /don't/ care," I said all too quickly. "I /never/ cared. /That's/ why." I ignored his hurt expression. "Next time you ask me how I'm doing, don't expect an answer."

I stormed out of the room, almost like a child that lost an argument, and outside of Jane's house. I needed air.

How could I have said so easily that I did not care for my own mother? Maybe it was for the best that I turn cold for a while. It may hurt Thor, and even myself, but it could also save us.

Freedom is denial.


	5. Chapter 5

_**~Author's Note~**_

_Guess who's back! Back again! Glowstick's back! Tell yo' friends!_

_Yes, 'tis I, returned from personal writing hiatus. Ironically, the reason my writing's been delayed was the Sherlock hiatus driving me insane... and also Night Vale... I won't say too much now, because there's another note at the end so without farther ado:_

_RFFSTTFN _

_~DatGlowstickThoe_

* * *

><p><em>Where was he going? And after such an outburst? I was afraid of what he might do, but I knew better than to go after him. He would just become even more angry with me. Though, it stuck in my head. "I don't care! I never cared!" That couldn't be true. He'd been in such a deep depression when we left Asgard, and then suddenly he was apathetic. I knew he was lying. He had to be lying. I wouldn't let hope for my little brother slip so quickly. Not this time.<em>

* * *

><p>'Walk,' I told myself. 'Don't stop. Don't think. Just walk.'<p>

I had no idea where I was going, I just knew that I wasn't going back for a while. Why had running off become a habit of mine? I had gotten so good at fighting my own battles, but recently? I'd jumped from the Bifrost twice, and run from the only place on Midgard where the chances of me being murdered were under 40%. What was wrong with me?

I walked away from the city and farther into the desert. I needed to be as far away from people- Midgardians or otherwise- as possible. Though, there were a few problems with this impromptu 'escape plan' of mine. 1.) It was incredibly quiet, which made it incredibly easy for my mind to wander. That brings us to number 2.) There was literally nothing but sky and sand. Nothing for me to focus on. Nothing to distract me. 3.) Leather and Metal Asgardian clothing and hundred-degree weather do not mix well, especially for someone who's naturally cold-blooded.

I was pretty much forced to take off the jacket-like portion of my outfit, which by no means did I feel like carrying around, so I left it on the ground. I could come back for it when I went back into town. While I was at it, I took off the portions that were mainly for decoration, leaving myself in a black shirt withh the sleeves rolled up and my pants. I was still hot, but not nearly as overheated as I was.

I tried to focus on the cloudless sky and the stunning shade of blue that it was... The same stunning blue of Frigga's eyes-

'STOP IT,' I screamed at myself. 'Think of something else. Anything else.'

The only other thing there was to focus on was the heat, and so I complained to myself. truthfully, it wasn't the best way to calm myself down, but it was enough to keep me from thinking about /her/.

At some point, my complaints became less of, 'Why is it so hot out here?' and 'Why didn't i change into Midgardian clothes?' and more of 'My legs are going to collapse.' It was fairly accurate, too, because I soon felt myself unable to stand. All of the walking hadn't already made my feet ache, and the heat was not helping.

I half lowered myself down and half collapsed onto the sand, unable to even sit up. For a while I lay there with no thought, but then I heard a rustling sound. I turned my head to the side, and I couldn't help my small smile as I thought, 'That's a nice looking tumbleweed.'

_****_Freedom is lost. (Or maybe that's me. I have no idea. One of us is lost. send a search party.)

_**~AN~**_

_Hullo. DatGlowstickThoe here. Guess what. I finally have the plot mapped out for this. and I lied. It most definitely will nOT be more lighthearted than WiF. It's going to be worse. I have things to update. Ehehehehe._

_Anywho, I'd pay attention to that tumbleweeeeeed~ and also yes I do realize that this chapter probably sucks, and it's a let down since I haven't updated in forever. BUT as you can maybe tell from the end of this chapter, the next chapter is going to be a complete Crack!Fic, and I'm going to laugh my head off writing it. Because frostgiant vs 100+ degree (Ferinheight if that is how it's spelled) is a very fun battle to watch... read... something... I DUNNO. ANYWHOOOOOOOO RFFSTTFN~_


	6. Chapter 6

[Note at end]

_After a couple of hours, Loki was still missing, and I had began to worry. He could have hurt someone... or himself. I expressed my concern to Jane and Darcy, and they said that we could go out looking for him. We got into her van and drove around town to no avail. We began to travel farther into the Desert. In this heat, I wasn't sure what condition he would be in. I just never expected him to be as out of it as he was._

__Blue. The most brilliant blue I'd ever seen. I think it was the sky. Yes, it must of been, because when I turned my head, I saw the ground. The ground, and that one tumbleweed that I'd named Colin.

He's cool, Colin. And a good listener too. I'd been talking to him for what seemed like an eternity about.. well, I didn't remember. It was just words spilling out of my mouth. Every now and then, I'd laugh at the lack of reply from Colin, as if he'd made a witty reply. I imagined that he'd had a deep voice if he, or any tumbleweeds, could talk. Wouldn't that be something. Talking tumbleweeds. The world would be a lot less lonely a place.

Then, over the lack of baritone tumbleweed, I heard the dark voices that were usually there during the night. Different voices. I turned my head the other direction and saw people. Three people. And a van.

I recognized those people as Thor, that one intern girl, and Thor's lady friend. What was her name? Jamie... Jade.. Jane- JANE! That was it, Jane. I couldn't tell what they were saying, exactly, as they ran toward me until they got closer.

I felt the corners of my mouth turn up in a smile. "Heyyyyyy," I said, looking up at the three.

"Loki," Thor said, kneeling next to me, "Are you alright? How long have you been out here?!" I could hear panic in his voice, but i didn't understand why it was there.

"'M fine. A bit hot..." I told him, "But fine. Have you guys met Colin?" I gestured weakly over to the tumbleweed.

They didn't seem to care much about Colin because they just started rambling on to eachother. Something about heatstroke and Joutenheim and hallucinations, and then they were making a team effort to pick me up.

I would've helped. I really would've, it's just that my legs felt like noodles. What if they were noodles?! After a moment of panic, I looked down and saw actaul legs and sighed with relief.

Then, within the blink of an eye, we were in the van. Something was wrong, off, not right. At first, I thought it was that my skin was blue, but that couldn't be it. But then I relaized: We'd left Colin. And I wanted to protest, to say we had to go back... but then everything went sort of fuzzy and blurry.

Thor, who was beside me, asked me something, but words didn't form in my mind, and anyways, even if I had heard his question, I couldn't have answered, because that was when I blacked out.

Freedom is... WhAt?

**_~AN~_**

_It's been soooo long since I've written, oh god... I started this chapter, what? Like... before summer started? Ugh._

_Anywho, heres your cracky-weird-basically-High!Loki chapter that- by the way- is completely nessicary. It doesn't seem like it, but it totes mah goats does. Totes. Mah. Goats. Goats? Goats. The fault in out Goat. What? Shh. _

_And this is where, if you were hoping for a happy story that finally puts an end to all of Loki's pain, you might want to stop reading because I plotted out the story and you're gonna hate me because SO MANY FEELINGS and I'm just gonna let you know that not everybody survives this story. It may even be worse than the last fic. Maybe. Depends. Kay Imma let yall go and just skip doing a spell check on this chapter coz lazy. _

_RFFS, TTFN_

_~DatGlowstickThoe 3 (I missed you guys!)_


	7. Chapter 7

_**~AN~**_

_There's another AN at the end I wrote when I published this chapter on Wattpad almost a year ago. Anyways, I'm here to say, I'm going to sit down and finish this freakin' fic soon... If its the last thing I do. Sorry for the space b/w updates... And honestly, this will probably be my Last Loki fic until Ragnarok. I'm very uninspired to write MARVEL fics these days. Other fandoms have taken over. BUT I DID NOT FORGET MY ORIGINS. Thus here I am. But anyhow.. ON WITH THE THING._

_To say I was concerned when Loki passed out in the van was an understatement. He had been so overheated that he had reverted to his Jouten form- no doubt subconsciously, especially after what had happened the last time he had taken that form. When we got back to Jane's house, we laid him out on the bed in our room and practically covered him in ice packs. We were half tempted to call for medical assistance, but that would have landed us all in prison. All we- mostly I- could do was hope that he would be alright._

When I awoke, I was covered in ice packs and I was incredibly thirsty. It took me a while to realize I was in Thor and I's room at Jane's house, but I didn't remember falling asleep... Hadn't I left the house for something...?

I had the strength to move some of the ice packs off, but when I tried to stand, I ended up falling back onto the bed due to a sort of dizziness.

As if on cue, Darcy came in with a glass of water and handed it to me, and I took it with a quietly muttered, "Thank you..."

"No problem," she replied, stuffing her hands in her pockets. "You were pretty out of it when we found you."

"How so?" I asked, then taking a long drink of the cool water.

"Well, first off, you were grinning like an idiot," she began sitting at the foot of the bed. "Which Thor says he hasn't seen since God knows when. Then, you started rambling on about someone named Colin, and you just looked kinda stoned until you passed out in the van."

I must've looked as confused as I felt, because she went on to explain that I'd started hallucinating because of the heat. But what really struck me is when she said, "And your skin was all blue and it looked pretty cool- no pun intended." I'd turned into my Jouten form..

That lead me straight into thoughts about Asgard and mother... I didn't pay attention to anything she said after that, but I knew she was still rambling on. I was only broken out of my painful memories and hateful thoughts when she handed me some mortal device of hers. I simply stared at it.

"It's called an iPod," she explained. "These thingies-" she pointed to the chords dangling from the 'iPod', "- are ear buds or headphones or whatever they're actually called." She put one of the 'ear buds' in my ear, which was quite odd because people don't normally try to shove random bits of wire, plastic, and rubber into your ear. Then music started playing. It actually wasn't... terrible.

"If you want to switch songs you click this button." She pressed said button and the song changed. The screen read "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)- The Proclaimers". I assumed that was the song title and the artist. She then pointed to a few more things like "Pause", "Play", etc, and then showed me the list of every song on her iPod- which was a lot of songs. She said I could feel free to look up other music on 'YouTube', but I wasn't going to dare play with more mortal technology than was necessary.

"And... why exactly are you loaning this to me?" I asked as she stood. After all, what good had I ever done her.

"Because you're probably going to be in bed all day, " she explained, opening the door, "And I'm not going to listen to you complain about boredom all day." And with a slight laugh and a smile, she left me to the sound of 'Imagine Dragons'.

The song was called 'Demons', and the lyrics were.. suprisingly relatable. So much so that I replayed it a few times, pondering what demons the imagined dragons fought. I knew what mine were... and I suppose it wasn't that great of an idea to let myself drift into deep thoughts of them either.

Freedom is having demons.

_~AN~_

_GUESS WHO'S BACK? BACK AGAIN! GLOWSTICK"S BACK! AND YOU'RE PROBABLY DISAPPOINTED._

_I've had this chapter written for months, tbh, I just didn't know how to end it so... I tried. I went back and reread part of What is Freedom to regain my writing style, and I noticed how many mistakes in plot and spelling and grammar I made and I am... so very sorry guys. _

_I'm going to try to write more tonight, post even, but I make zero promises._

_I LOVE YOU!_

_RFFSTTFN_

_~DatGlowstickThoe_


	8. Chapter 8

**_~AN~_**

_Most of this I wrote earlier last year, but the last few lines I wrote today. This should be finished up in one or two chapters, and the series will, I think, be over from there. I'll get sentimental when that happens. Enjoy!_

_RFFN TTFN_

_~DatGlowstickThoe_

At first, Loki would walk through the house. He would sit outside- not for too long-, join us for meals, have short conversations. Slowly, though, he stopped leaving our room. I would walk in mid-day, or at night, and he'd be sitting in the floor with Darcy's device. I'd even woken up in the early morning, way before dawn, but well after midnight, and found him leaning against the wall. Sometimes he would hum, or mouth words. Mostly he was still. And it worried me. It shouldn't have; at least he wasn't dwelling on his mistakes or having a heatstroke. However, I'd never seen him like this. It was unnerving.

There are an assortment of instruments in the universe, but I'd always loved the sound of the piano. Haunting little melodies being pieced together by these keys. Slow ballads, love songs, rejoicing hymns...

'It's so quiet here,/And it feels so cold./This house no longer/ feels like home.' (So Cold, Ben Cocks)

Such somber words, and yet they were the very things I felt in whatever was left in the place where my heart should have been. Of course, judging my the verses, the song was about losing a lover. Though, loss of any kind is relatable.

One could say that since the day I'd been given Darcy's iPod I'd been sulking. Sulking. Such a pitiful word. I liked to think I was reflecting. Maybe reflecting was sitting alone, listening to the music of mortals, and refusing to take out your ear buds when your brother would speak, no doubt inviting you to take part in dinner, conversation, or something of the sort. Yes, I was sulking.

Though, you can only kill so many and regret so much before sulking becomes habit.

I found a new way of tracking time, as well, since I'd always been terrible at that. It was less of a seconds-to-minutes system, and more of a 'How Many Times Could I Listen To SAIL In That Time Period' system. For instance, Thor would try to get my attention for half a play-through. Getting up because food was a necessity took, perhaps, and entire play-through. Two, if I was stopped for conversation. Charging the device was around sixty plays. Staring into the nothingness was infinite.

I had gone through every song on Darcy's iPod at least twice, and even managed to find new songs through an 'app'. I wouldn't dare try to list even half of it. But every single one had at least one relatable phrase.

That was a bit sad, wasn't it? That I'd gone through so many mortal songs. That I'd identified with so many. And I was so... emotional. I was never this emotional. It was disgusting. Yet, I stayed there and, yes, sulked.

It was one day, in the midst of Masterpiece Theater III, that Darcy came to visit me. This was odd, seeing as it was only ever Thor who distracted me from my music- which, now that I thought of it, was Darcy's music.

She was wearing a sort of cheaply-made tiara. Cardboard and plastic, by the looks of it. She also held a sort of plastic horn. I removed an earbud. This would be interesting.

"Hey, I know you kindof like shutting yourself up in here," she said, excitement in her voice. "But it's New Year's Eve, which means streamers, and hats, and a crap-load of wine, and I'd hate for you to miss it."

"Is it required?" I asked dismissively.

"Well, no, but you've been in here for, like, two weeks. And I want my iPod back, dude."

I sighed and stood. I might as well have gone with her whim, seeing as I knew Thor would have come pestered me if I'd refused. I walked slowly to the door, handing her the iPod reluctantly, and headed to the front room.

I wasn't exactly surprised to see Jane and Thor wearing vibrant and cheap hats, but I was a tad surprised when Thor walked up to me and plopped one on my head. I must have looked as unamused as I was, for he laughed and said, "Come on, now, Loki! It's a day of celebration for the mortals, and it is a tradition!"

Sighing, I sat down on the end of the couch farthest from Thor. I didn't remove the hat. Maybe because it made my brother happy to see me in it.. or happy to see me off of the floor in general.

It wasn't so bad... sitting there, surrounded by smiling people. It reminded me that good moments, that not everything was bad.

That feeling vanished the instant I heard the crash.


	9. The End

[AN at the end.]

_Loki had decided to join us, and he looked as though he were enjoying himself. It was the first time I had seen him smile in a long time. Perhaps, I thought, he would make a habit of joining us for social occasions. That would be wonderful. But that train of thought was stopped when a deafening crash came from outside and the ground shook the house with an impressive force. We all stood at once, but it was Loki who made it to the window first. I'd never seen him switch from concerned to terrified so quickly._

"Oh, no..." This wasn't real. It couldn't be. "Oh, Valhalla, no, no, no…."

"Loki, what is it?" Thor asked me.

I couldn't bring myself to reply. The warriors were already stepping off of the ship,

"Loki..?" He was at my side now, staring at the same scene I was. He was speechless.

"Excuse me, but could someone explain _what in the world that was?!_" Darcy shouted.

"Asgard," was my simple reply as I stepped away from the window, heading to the back of the house where our room was. I had to find my armor.

As I donned my familiar metal and leather, I could hear a muffled, half-yelled conversation. I assumed Jane wanted to know why there were Asgardians outside and was less than pleased with the explanation Thor gave her.

I manifested my scepter for defense— there no harm in using magic now. They'd already found us. Or, rather, they'd found me. They weren't looking for Darcy, Jane, or even Thor. They wanted me.

And by Valhalla, they were going to get me.

I rushed back the confused and frightened group of people in the front room and to the door.

"Loki, what are you doing? You can't go out there!" I knew he was trying to keep me safe, but I was doing the same.

"Watch me."

I stepped out into frigid night air, walking quickly. I stopped a few yards in front of the front line of warriors.

"Hello, gentlemen. Come for a little visit?" My words sounded arrogant, confident. I was terrified. I had only just begun to feel warmth in my soul again, and they wanted to rip that way from me.

"Laufeyson," the warrior's voice was cold. "I'm obligated to offer to let you come peacefully, but judging by your history, I don't think you'll even consider it."

"How right you are." I forced on a smirk. "You see, the thing is, as much as I would love to put my hand in the air and surrender so you can no doubt execute me... I'm going to have to take a raincheck."

"So be it." He gave a signal, and several other warriors raised weapons. If it was a fight they wanted, I should not disappoint.

A few of them attacked, but I dodged to my best ability. I tried to strike back…

I hadn't realized that just before I did so, my brother had stepped in front of me in an attempt to stop the warriors.

Everyone stopped.

At first there was silence. Then, Jane and Darcy were screaming and yelling. There was a clamor amongst the warriors. I stood there, frozen.

Thor had collapsed backwards into my arms, his blood spilling out onto my armor, and I could not move.

Someone, maybe Jane or Darcy or a concerned warrior, took him from my arms. I didn't try to stop them. I didn't try to stop the few tears that rolled quietly down my face. I didn't move, or blink, or breathe.

This all seemed too familiar to me. By my feet lay someone I loved, my own blade covered in blood. This time, there were no last, reassuring words. Nowhere to run. No one to turn to. All I could ever do, it seemed, was kill. Kill and destroy. It was my legacy. In those next brief, silent seconds, all I could think of was every life I'd destroyed.

All those Asgardians that died in the war I started, all the Midgardians that suffered and died in New York, mother... I could now add Thor.

Maybe I was never meant to be a hero. Maybe I was never meant to find redemption. If all I could do was destroy, perhaps that was what I was meant to do. I had to admit, I was good at it…

I felt something snap. Something fell into place, or maybe it fell out of place. I couldn't tell, but it all made sense.

"Oops," I uttered, no expression coming to my face or from my voice.

Jane was sobbing and clenching the body of someone now gone. I placed a hand on her shoulder and leant down. "You don't have to miss him," I spoke quietly, just above a whisper. I didn't recognize my own voice.

"Wh-what..?"

I plunged the blade of my scepter through her spine, and two distinctive screams were heard. Hers, and Darcy's. Neither lasted very long.

As soon as Jane's body went limp, I moved onto Darcy. She put up a little struggle, but her emotions made her weak, and soon she was just another casualty.

The warriors were attacking at full force now—I'd murdered both their queen and prince.

Adrenaline pumped through my veins, and either I avoided all of the attacks or the injuries I received could not cut through the cloud of numbness that surrounded me. I took down as many of the warriors as I could, using both my weapon and my magic, even though fighting at this point was futile.

A loud voice halted us all, somehow reaching us all above the war cries. I looked over the shoulder of a warrior in front of me to see none other than Odin Allfather himself.

He approached cautiously, but confidently. He kept his gaze locked with mine, almost as if challenging me to do something. I didn't. I had to see where this was going.

"I hope you're proud of yourself," he stated, condescendingly. If he was torn to pieces at the death of his son, he didn't show it. He wouldn't give me that satisfaction.

"Oh, I am," I replied instinctively, just to spite him. "What about you? You've got what you've wanted for years now. Me, here, with nowhere left to run. Are you cherishing it?" He didn't respond, so I prodded further. "Are you going to enjoy my death?"

"Silence." His expression didn't change, but I knew I struck a nerve. I knew I couldn't escape this time. There really was no point in it anymore, anyway. But if I was going down, I was taking part of him down with me.

"You'll be the one to do it right? To show your power… or maybe just for the sheer satisfaction."

"I said, _silence_."

"When you've done it, when you have my blood on your hands, when you see what's left of my life leave my eyes, you'll understand." Even I was just beginning to understand.

Odin ordered the warriors to get him his sword, and a few others pushed me to my knees.

"You'll understand that even _you_ are a prisoner, _Allfather_. And there is no release for these chains that bind you." I smirked, and even found myself able to let out a short, breathy laugh. "You seek freedom, yes? Freedom from war. Freedom from struggle and pain. Freedom from people like me, who know…"

I saw him raise the sword, and before he plunged it into my heart, I managed to get out my last epiphany…

"Freedom isn't real."

_~AN~_

_Hey.. I'm crying rn._

_You probably are too._

_Let's cry together._

_So... Not only am I incredibly sad that everyone died, or because I'm listening to the same exact song that I was listening to when Frigga died in What is Freedom and when I finished writing the last chapter of WiF... But because it's over. It was stressing.. but two years working on this story... And it's over. It's finished. The book has closed._

_Real quick I wanna give some shoutouts:_

_To everyone who read these two fics, stayed with me, and commented, helping me stay encouraged enough to write,_

_Also to DatNatCatThoe, who just now got off of the phone with me. I read this chapter to her, and we talked for a bit and were sentimental. She's helped me so much in this process. She was my motivator, my inspiration, my critic, my number one fan, and I'm way more than grateful to have her in my life, so please go check out her amazing Avengers fanficton._

_I hope you all will stay with me, because this WILL NOT be the last Marvel fic I write, and I really hope to give life to another reincarnation of Loki when__I can. I'm also interested in writing fanfic for Doctor Who, Sherlock, Supernatural, Gravity Falls, Steven Universe, Undertale, and eventually__some anime, once I get into it, so please stick around for that._

_Thank you, thank you, thank you, from the bottom of my heart, and Loki's non-beating heart aswell (too soon? too soon...)._

_And with that..._

_RFFS TTFN_

_~DatGlowstickThoe_


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